Hi all. With all the confusion regarding DC firearms laws, I have a question regarding carrying and or possession as it applies to LEO's both active and retired with LEOSA/HR-218 qualification. Allowed, Not allowed?  After reading some of posts on here and conflicting opinions from others. I'm more confused than ever. Does anyone here have accurate info on what's good to go or not good? Most interested as it applies to retired LEO's   under HR-218/LEOSA. If nobody has  definitive info on this maybe someone can point me in the right direction or to somebody that can answer these questions. Any help with this would be greatly appreciated.Thanks

LEOSA is a federal law, so legally you are good to go.  The only problem you may have is if you want to enter federal buildings, they may not let you carry. I know, federal law, can't carry in federal buildings, go figure.   For example, I went on a White House tour, I had to leave my gun in a lock box while there.  Not a big deal, but a little hassle.

But as far as walking around town, no problem, just make sure you have your credentials with you.

Thanks for the info Yes, I understand about Federal buildings,schools, etc, etc. Like you said, go figure. LOL. Did I understand you in that they gave you a lockbox to use at the Whitehouse when you went there?? Wow, We couldn't go into the 911 memorial at the twin towers in NYC. They were cool about it but no provisions  were made for visiting LEO's. Thanks again.

I'm a LEO for a local agency, I showed them my creds before I walked through the metal detectors, they brought me around and I put it in a box.  That was a few years ago, don't know if it has changed.

Like others have said, keep your creds with you and you'll be fine.

You can't toss a rock and not hit an off duty. LOL

@XFrankX  @Cooper1

Resurrecting an old thread just to confirm:

Current LE is still GTG?   My wife and I will be in DC next month, going to a couple of museums and using the metro to get around.  Any issues with mag capacity?

Thanks ya'll.

You are fine.  Despite the mantra of DC being shitty, it's a great place to visit.  Have your creds, but your badge will be plenty.  I will bet you will never be stopped anyway.  Metro is a non issue.

The Museums.  Just show the guards your ID and they may or may not have you sign in to a log book.

Literally, you can not throw a football in any direction and not hit a cop.

Any other questions, post them or send me an IM.

Regards.

Leaving in a couple of days.  Thanks for the info!!!

@Deadtired

Sent you an IM for the Smithsonian Museum policies.  Nothing has changed but you may want to give them a call.  Whatever you do, DO NOT LEAVE IT UNDER YOUR MATTRESS!

We get constant calls from maid services for recovered guns.  Just a headache all around.

LOL I found one in a rental car one time.

Thanks for the link, its good to have confirmation of that policy!

Zero issues, had a blast, saw a bear at Shenandoah!

FYI:  Monticello does the sign-in thing too.

We are going out to DC and area in a few weeks for the 1st time ever and was wondering how LEOSA/USC 18 926c works in the DC/MA/VA region works while visiting Arlington National Cemetery along with the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum and other tourist & historic locations all over the area.

Lots of good info in this thread, thanks!

The Smithsonian security guys at Air and Space who were forced to carry wheel guns wanted a badge (creds were not sufficient). One of the security guys said, "this is why we get a bad rap" to the other guy who was busting on me about only having my ID and not a badge. This was about 5 years ago...

Especially around the Mall, Capital, and the Federal Office areas.

The jurisdictions are so chopped up it is ridiculous.
The DC City Police have most of the street, but not all the streets.
Especially beside and crossing the Mall.
Federal Park Police have jurisdiction.

Capital Police on streets inside the Capital Area and the Capital itself.
Federal Protective Service guards buildings, but there are plenty of
Private Security Officers they hire.

And  three letter agencies often have their own internal
Federal Protective forces.
CIA, FBI, NSA, NRO, etc.There are lots of buildings that are unmarked
but festooned with security cameras.

The CIA used to have a building on 17th Street.
Just a plain small office building with no markings.
NSA was down the block.

The Secret Service guards the white house with a uniformed division
on the perimeter and immediate surrounding streets.
Backed up by a crowd of plainclothes guys.

Sometimes the biggest arguments are who will lead a particular investigation.

I was an Arlington County, Virginia Paramedic in the late 1970s to middle 1980s.
We where the third level back up for Washington, DC and some of the Federal stuff
across the river.
We also had primary for all sorts of Federal facilities in Virginia.

The George Washington Parkway in Virginia had us as primary when it ran beside
Arlington, Fairfax County covered the portions adjacent to that county.
But since there was all sorts of 'special' areas that could only be accessed from one direction.
So we might go pretty far into Fairfax, and they into Arlington.
Whomever can get there in the mish mash of isolated one way sections.

And then there are the parts of the Parkway that are surface streets in Alexandria City.